Container for musical reeds



Oct. 3, 1967 l M H BEST 3,344,913

CONTAINER FOR MUSICAL REEDS Filed May 13, 1966 yi l?? L?? y? 77 42 43 /gv f ,7 ff /r f 75 xf- /7 77% if ff 75% l \l/ a V" f7 Y f` M INVENTOR. if 'v Maw/1f 6./ 5557 United States Patent O 3,344,913 CONTAINER FOR MUSICAL REEDS Melvin H. Best, Pasadena, Calif., assgnor to Roy J. Maier Corporation, Sun Valley, Calif., a corporation of California Filed May 13, 1966, Ser. No. 549,947 11 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) This application is a continuation-in-part application of copending application Ser. No. 512,714 tiled Dec. 9, 1965.

This invention relates to containers and, more particularly, to an improved container for musical reeds and the like.

A musical reed, fabricated from cane or bamboo, for use in a woodwind instrument or a saxophone, and having a feather edge at one end, is an extremely fragile article, and the packaging of such articles has long been a troublesome matter. Historically, a musical reed was merely inserted into a box in which the reed was free to slide longitudinally. During shipment and handling of such a packaged reed, the bumping of the feather edge of the reed against an interior end surface of the box often caused the feather edge to be split or otherwise damaged. Unless the feather edge of the reed is maintained in perfect condition, the reed is not usable.

In an effort to provide better protection for a musical reed during shipment rand handling of the reed between the time the reed is manufactured and the time it is ultimately used, a ree-d container like that shown in U.S. Patent 2,910,173 was developed. This package provides better protection for a reed than was provided by a box in which the reed is free to slide. The package is characterized by being molded of rigid plastic to deiine a onepiece article which encloses live sides of the reed. The package has an open side through which the reed is inserted into and removed from the package. When a reed is disposed in the package, a projection molded into the package engages the vamp of the reed to prevent the reed from moving in the package in such a manner that the reed feather edge bumps an end wall of the package. The projection engages the reed so forcefully that the reed cannot be easily removed from the package. In many cases, the reed is so difcult to remove from the package that the reed is damaged in the attempt. Alternatively, the package may be destroyed before the .reed may be removed; in such instances, it is likely that the reed may be damaged before it can be used. Another disadvantage of a package constructed in accordance with this patent is that the reeds must be inserted into the packages very carefully; such packages do not lend themselves to being filled by automatic packaging apparatus if the integrity of the packaged product is to be maintained. Also, such a package cannot conveniently accommodate reeds of differing sizes.

Because musical reeds are made of cane or bamboo, Ilthey are subject to undesirable deformation produced by stresses inherently present in such materials. Bamboo is a jointed plant in that circumferential joints, bounding natural partitions across the otherwise hollow bamboo stalk, occur naturally a-t regu-lar intervals along a bamboo stalk. Proceeding along the stalk from one joint to the next, the outer diameter of a mature bamboo plant decreases, then increases midway between the joints, and then decreases to the next joint. A musical reed made from bamboo has an outer curved surface,to.which the vamp surface extends from the reed feather edge, defined by the outer surface of the bamboo stalk. The reed also has a base surface which, during manufacture of the reed, is shaved or planed flat. When the reed is installed on a musical instrument, such as a clarinet or a saxophone, the base surface of the reed is placed against -a mouthpiece reed surface which curves slightly convex away "ice from the reed along its length and along the length of the reed. In order that sound may be produced by operation of the instrument, the reed feather edge must be spaced slightly away from the adjacent edge of the mouthpiece reed surface in order that the musicians breath may pass between the reed and the mouthpiece into the interior of the instrument and cause the reed to vibrate. If the reed feather edge engages the mout-hpiece in the relaxed or unactivated state of the reed, no breath can pass the reed and the reed is constrained from vibrating as desired. v

The cane or bamboo from which the reed is made is inherently internally stressed as a result of the way in which the cane or bamboo grows in its natur-al state. This stress is continu-ally dissipated by deformation of the reed. The inherent stress patterns in the cane or bamboo are dissipated only by deformation of the reed such that the reed base surface becomes concave along the length of the reed, and the extent of this concavity increases with the length of time between manufacture and use of the reed. The rate at which the reed base surface becomes concave varies from reed to reed and is not predictable. It frequently happens, therefore, that a reed just removed from a package may be suiiiciently concave when mounted on an instrument mouthpiece to be unusable because the reed concavity exceeds the mouthpiece convexity with the result that the reed feather edge engages the mouthpiece. More commonly, the ree-d concavity is not so extreme. Any departure of the reed base surface from a planar state to a state of concavity, however, produces a corresponding reduction in the useful life of the reed, assuming, of course, the reed does not split before its feather edge moves into contact with the mou-thpiece.

The packages heretofore used to house musical reeds between manufacture and sale did little or nothing to offset the tendency of the reed to become concave, and many packages have the characteristic that they aggravate and accelerate deformation of a reed housed therein into a concave condition.

This invention provides a container for a musical reed and the like which does not suffer from the disadvantages above noted. The container is constructed to locate the feather edge of the reed away from an interior surface of the container and to constrain movement of the reed within the container. The container is constructed so that it cannot be closed if a reed is improperly disposed in the container. Accordingly, Iuse of the container assures that a reed packaged therein will reach the ultimate user in perfect condition. Moreover, the container is easy to open and has the feature that a given container may be lused to package more than one size of reed. A preferred form of the container is extremely economical to produce and is adapted for use in automatic packaging operations. Also, and not least importantly, the container is constructed so that the reed is maintained with its base surface convex while the reed Vis in the container, thereby counteracting the tendency of the reed to become concave and extending the useful life of the reed.

vGenerally speaking, this invention provides a container for a musical reed having a base and a vamp terminating in a feather edge at one end of the reed. The container comprises a pair of mating parts which are movable into and out of closure relation with each other. Whn the parts are engaged in closure relation, they define a reed receiving chamber having top and bottom surfaces and a length greater than the length of a reed to be received therein. The container part which defines the chamber top surface carries reed vamp engaging means which extend from the chamber top surface to a terminus thereof spaced from the chamber top surface. The vamp engaging means terminus is spaced from .the chamber top surface a distance less than the distance between the cham` f Y 3 ber top and bottom surfaces when the container parts are engaged in closure relation. The reed vamp engaging means is disposed closer to one end of the one container part than to the other end of the part for engaging the vamp of a reed received in the chamber. The vamp engaging means engages the vamp between the base and the feather edge of the reed for preventing the feather edge from engaging an interior end surface of the charn- Aof the container shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, -with parts broken away, of a portion of the container shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation view of another Vcontainer according to this invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevation view of another container in accord with this invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevation view of yet another container according to this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional elevation view showing a latch mechanism of the container shown in FIG. 1.

A container 10 is shown in FIG. l engaged around a reed 11 for a saxophone or woodwind instrument. The reed is fabricated from cane or bamboo and has a base portion 12 and a vamp portion 13 having a concave surface 14 which terminates in a feather edge 15 at the end of the reed 'opposite from the base portion; in transverse cross-section the reed base portion -has a configuration resembling a segment of a circle. The reed also has a base surface 16 opposite the reed from the vamp surface. The reed is manufactured so that its base surface is at when the manufacturing process is completed. The container has mating top and bottom parts 17 and 18 hingeably interconnected by a flexible integral hinge member 19 shown in detail in FIG. 2; container 10 preferably is fabricated of a single molding of polypropylene plastic, although polyethylene or a similar deformable plastic material may be used if desired.

Container bottom part 18 has a base 20, the upper side of which defines a bottom surface 21 for a container chamber 22 within which the reed is disposed. A wall 23 is raised from surface 21 adjacent to and around the extent of the periphery of the container bottom part. At the opposite ends of the bottom part, the opposing surfaces of wall 23 are spaced apart a distance greater than the length of reed 11.

Container top part 17 has a base 24, the underside of which defines a top surface 25 of chamber 22. A depending wall 26 extends from the base of the container top part around the periphery of the container top part. Wall 26 has a greater height than wall 23 and lies circum- V ferentially outwardly ofrwall 23 when the container parts are engaged in mating closure relation, as shown in FIG. 1. The dimensions of wall 26 are such that the container top and bottom surfaces are spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of reed base portion 12.

As shown in FIG. l in greatly exaggerated form (exaggerated to be discernible), chamber bottom surface 21 is concave upwardly of the container bottom part valong its length. The extent of this concavity is indicated by dimension C in FIG. l. Similarly, the container top and chamber top surface 25 are convex downwardly substantially the same amount along their lengths. D-

mension C preferably is about 0.05 for a container having a length of 37/8 inches.

A reed vamp engaging bridge member 28 is formed integral with the container top part and extends downwardly from chamber top surface to a terminal edge 29. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal edge of bridge member 28 is straight and is spaced from the chamber top surface a distance less than the spacing between the chamber top and bottom surfaces of the mated container parts. Further, the lower edge of the bridge member is spaced from the chamber top surface a distance greater than the spacing between the top of reed base portion 12 and the chamber top surface when the container is closed around reed 11. Ihe lower edge of the bridge is disposed sufficiently below chamber surface 25 that the normally planar base surface of a reed received in the closed container is biased into engagement with chamber surface 21 in response to engagement of the bridge member with the reed vamp surface. The reed therefore deforms so that its base surface becomes convex downwardly along its length. Bridge member 28 extends transversely of the length of the container and the terminal edge of the bridge member engages the inclined surface of the reed vamp.

The bridge member is disposed closer to the hinged end of the container top part than to -the opposite end of the part. This position of the bridge member relative to the length of the container assures that the bridge member engages the inclined surface of the vamp when the reed is placed in the container with its flat surface downward and with its feather edge disposed adjacent the hingeable interconnection between the container parts. Accordingly, if a reed is inserted into the container such that the feather edge of the reed is not properly located within the container, the container cannot be closed. This feature of the invention assures that a reed be properly disposed in the container so that the feather edge there-of cannot be damaged by the reed sliding back and forth within the container.

Reed 11, shown in solid lines in FIG. 1, corresponds to the reed for an alto saxophone. Reed 11', shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1, corresponds to the reed for a clarinet. It will be observed that the contour of vamp 13 for the clarinet reed is congruent to the curvature of the vamp of reed 11 for a portion of the length of reed 11 notwithstanding the fact that reed 11 is shorter and thinner than reed 11. Bridge member 28 is dimensioned and arranged along the length of the container top part so that its lower edge engages the surface 14 of vamp 13 at a point along this surface to which a portion `of vamp 13 is congruent. Accordingly, container 10 is constructed so that it may receive reeds of differing sizes in such a manner that the reed received in the -container has its feather edge held out of contact with an interior end surface of chamber 22.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation view through a top part 30 of a container 31 which, except to the extent illustrated in FIG. 4, is identical to container 10. Surface 25 of container part 31 carries a bridge member 32 which extends transversely of the length of the part 30' between walls 26. Bridge member 32 has a terminus 33 defined by the aligned points 34 of a plurality of contiguous cones 35 carried by the bridge member. The p-oints facilitate gripping of the reed to prevent damage of the reed feather edge. Preferably, as with container 10, bridge member 32 is molded integral with container top part 30. The spacing of terminus 33 from surface 25 corresponds to the depth of bridge member 28. Preferably, the included angle of cones 35 is between 60 and 90, inclusive. A large number `of cones spaced closely together are provided to prevent ugly marking of the reed.

FIG. 5 shows a top part 40 of 'a container 41 which, except to the extent illustrated in FIG. 5, is like container 10. In lieu of a bridge member 28 or 32, container party the elongate extent of the Container. The fingers pi eferably are molded integral with the Vcontainer part, as when the container is molded of polypropylene or polyethylene. The fingers, regardless of the material from which the container top and bottom parts are fabricated, are pliable and have rounded lower ends 43; the lower ends of the fingers are colinearly aligned and are spaced from chamber top surface 25 a distance slightly greater than the depth of bridge member 23 so that the fingers are deected by sliding down the vamp as the container is closed around a reed. The fingers, however, are fabricated of an inherently resilient material and act upon a reed to prevent the feather edge of the reed from engaging the adjacent end surface of the container.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevation View of a top part 50 of a container 51 which, except to the extent illustrated in FIG. 6, is identical to container 10. Container part Si) carries a bridge member 52 which depends from chamber top surface 25 and extends transversely of the length of the container between walls 26. The bridge member has a lower edge 53. A plurality of spaced apart projections 54 extend from the bridge member beyond edge 53 to rounded lower ends 54 which are aligned along a common line 55. The spacing between line 5S and the underside of the container top part corresponds to the depth of bridge member 28 of container 10. Preferably, bridge member 52 and projections S4 are molded integral with container part 50.

As shown in FIG. 7, adjacent the ends of container parts 17 and 13 opposite from integral hinge 19 and along thesides of the container parts, the opposing surfaces of walls 23 and 26 define cooperating projections 60 and 61, respectively. These projections preferably are formed integral with the walls, as where the container is molded of polypropylene or polyethylene plastic. The projections are arranged relative to one another so that projections 60 lies between chamber top surface 25'and projection 61. The projections, therefore, define a latch mechanism for maintaining the container parts in closure relation with each other around a reed disposed within the container.

To facilitate opening the closed container, a flange 64 extends outwardly from the base of wall 26 at the end of the container opposite from the integral hinge between the container parts. The flange extends approximately halfway across the width of the container top part from `one side of the container. A cooperating flange 65 extends forwardly from the corresponding end Iof the container bottom part across the remaining portion of the width of the container. When it is desired that the container be opened, flanges 64 and 65 may be manually engaged and moved in opposite directions to apply opening force to the container parts, thereby causing walls 23 and 26 to deform so that lugs 60 and 61 disengage from each other. It is apparent, therefore, that the container is readily opened when desired, but not before, for easy removal of a reed contained therein.

Each of containers 10, 30, 40 and 50, described above, has a chamber bottom surface, toward which the bridge means carried by the container top depends when the container is closed, which is curved concave upward along its length. The bottom surfaces of these containers have substantialy no curvature transversely of their lengths. As noted above, when a music'al reed is manufactured it has a planar base surface 16 which becomes concave along its length as the internal stresses in the cane or bamboo from which the reed is made are dissipated and relieved. The disadvantageous results which follow from concavity of a reed base surface have been discussed above. Each of the containers described above is constructed so that, when the container is closed around a reed, the ba-se surface of the reed is forced into engagement with the concave bottom surface of the reed chamber. Accordingly, so long as the reed is housed in a container in accordance with this invention, the reed base surface is maintained in a slightly convex state. As a result,

the internal stresses present in the reed cannot dissipate.Y

Thus, when the reed is removed from the container for use, the reed base surface is either planar or slightly convex, but not concave. Reeds marketed in containers in accordance with the foregoing description, therefore, are always usable when removed from the containers. Also, because the reeds exhibit no concavityalong their base surface lengths, they have a longer useful life than reeds marketed in containers heretofore used.

When a reed is in use, the reed becomes wet as a result of being engaged in a musicians mouth. When a reed becomes damp, dissipation of the internal stresses in the reed is made easier. It is for this reason that most woodwind instrument musiciansv carry containers in which damp reeds are held against a hat surface for drying.

A container in accordance with the foregoing description may be used to advantage as a drying press for a musical reed following use thereof. The damp reed is merely placed back into its container and left there to dry. The reed dries while biased into a convex state. As a result, the reed, when both marketed and dried in a container according to the preceding description, has a considerably longer useful life than a reed dried in prior presses, assuming that the reed feather edge does not split before it is worn out.

The upwardly concave curvature of containers according to this invention is an unexpected property of such containers. Initially the dies used to mold such containers were made to produce a container having at top and bothom surfaces. It was found, however, that containers Ymade by the use of such dies have the curvature characteristics discussed above as a result of the manner in which the plastic from the containers are made deforms during cooling following removal from a molding machine. Both polyethylene and polypropylene containers exhibit the desired curvature, but polypropylene containers have the most desirable curvature characteristics. Accordingly, it is preferred that reed containers according to this invention be made of molded polypropylene.

It will be understood that this invention is not restricted to integrally hinged container parts. The construction described above, however, is preferred since such containers may be fabricated rapidly and cheaply and they lend themselves to use in automatic packaging operations.

The foregoing description has set forth presently preferred embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that the structure described above may be altered or modi-fied without departing from the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is not t0 considered as limiting the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A musical reed having a base, `a substantially planar base surface and a vamp termin-ating in a feather edge at one end of the reed, and a merchandising container for the reed comprising mating top and bottom parts movable bodily relative to each other into and out of closure relation with each other, the parts in closure relation to each other defining an elongate fully enclosed reed receiving chamber having top and bottom surfaces, the reed being disposed in the chamber with the feather edge thereof toward one end of the chamber with the reed base surface supported on the chamber bottom surface, the chamber having a length greater than the length of the reed, the top container part carrying reed vamp engaging means extending from the chamber top surface to a termius spaced from the top surface a distance less than the distance between chamber top and bottom surfaces in said closure relation of the parts, said distance being greater than the distance between the reed base and the chamber top surface in said closure relation of the parts around the reed, the reed vamp engaging means being closer to the other end of the top part than to the one end thereof for engaging the vamp of the reed for preventing the feather edge thereoffroni engaging the one end of the chamber when the container parts are disposed in closure relation around the reed.

2. A container yaccording to claim 1 wherein the vamp engaging means comprises a plurality of deformable fingers.

'3. A container according to clainrZ wherein said fingers are spaced proximate to each other transversely of said one container part.

4. A container laccording to claim 1 wherein the vamp engaging means comprises a bridge member depending from and extending transversely of said top surface.

5. A container according to claim 4 wherein the terminus comprises a substantially straight lower edge of the bridge member.

6. A container according to claim 4 wherein the ter mius of said bridge member forms a serrated lower edge of the bridge member.

7. A container according to claim 6 wherein the serrated edge is defined by a plurality of rounded projections spaced from each other along the bridge member.

8. A container according to claim 6 wherein the serrated edge is defined by a plurality of contiguous projections.

9. A merchandising container for a musical reed made of bamboo and the like and having a planar base surface extending along the length of the reed, a base portion, and a vamp terminating ina feather edge at one end of the reed and having a vamp surface opposite from the reed base surface, the container comprising (a) a pair of mating parts movable into and out of closure relation to each other and coacting in said closure relation to define 4a closed reed receiving chamber having top and bottom surfaces, opposite end surfaces, and a length greater than the length of a reed to be received therein,

(b) said chamber bottom surface being a selected `amount concave upwardly along its length,

(c) the one container part defining said chamber top surface carrying reed vamp engaging means disposed closer to one end of said one container part thanrto the other end thereof and extending from said chamber top surface a distance less than the distance between the chamber top and bottom surlll) faces in said closure relation of the container parts for engaging, between the reed base Vportion and the feather edge, the vamp surface of a reed received in the chamber with its base ysurface adjacent the chamber bottom surface for (i) preventing the feather edge from engaging an interior end surface of the chamber when the parts are in said closure relation around the reed and for (ii) deforming the reed toward engagement of the reed base surface along its length with the charnber bottom surface, and (d) releasable means for maintaining the container parts in said closure relation. v Y

110. A container according to claim 9 wherein the chamber top surface is substantially parallel to the chamber bottom surface when the container parts are engaged in said closure relation, and the vamp engaging means extends from the chamber top surface a distance sufiiciently greater than the normal distance between the chamber top surface and the location on the vamp surface of a reed in the chamber aligned with the vamp engaging means that the reed is deformed between its ends sufficiently to move the reed lower surface into substantial engagement along its length with the chamber bottom surface when the container parts are in said closure relation.

11. A container according to claim 10 wherein the container parts are molded as a unit of polypropylene and including integral hinge means interconnecting the one end of the one container part with the other container part, and the releasable means are defined by the container parts and are operable upon movement of the container parts into said closure relation.

References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,545,599 3/1951 Bartlett 206-13 2,687,157 8/1954 Cowan 220-31 2,910,173 10/ 'l95 9 Fenburr l2106-16 3,025,950 3 1962 Nathan 220-31 3,043,35 4 7/ 19 62 Fitzgerald 220-31 THERON E. CoNDoN, `Primary Examiner. t

I. M. CASKTE, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTIONY Patent No. 3,344,913 October 3', 1967 Melvin H. Best It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6, lines 74 and 75, "being closer to the other end of the top part than to the one end thereof for engaging the vamp of the reed for" should read being closer to the one end of the top part than to the other end thereof for engaging the vamp of the reed for Signed and sealed this 24th day of March 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, IR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A MUSICAL REED HAVING A BASE, SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR BASE SURFACE AND A VAMP TERMINATING IN A FEATHER EDGE AT ONE END OF THE REED, AND A MERCHANDISING CONTAINER FOR THE REED COMPRISING MATING TOP AND BOTTOM PARTS MOVABLE BODILY RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER INTO AND OUT OF CLOSURE RELATION WITH EACH OTHER, THE PARTS IN CLOSURE RELATION TO EACH OTHER DEFINING AN ELONGATE FULLY ENCLOSED REED RECEIVING CHAMBER HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACES, THE REED BEING DISPOSED IN THE CHAMBER WITH THE FEATHER EDGE THEREOF TOWARD ONE END OF THE CHAMBER WITH THE REED BASE SURFACE SUPPORTED ON THE CHAMBER BOTTOM SURFACE, THE CHAMBER HAVING A LENGTH GREATER THAN THE LENGTH OF THE REED, THE TOP CONTAINER PART CARRYING REED VAMP ENGAGING MEANS EXTENDING FROM THE CHAMBER TOP SURFACE TO A TERMIUS SPACED FROM THE TOP SURFACE A DISTANCE LESS THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN CHAMBER TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACE IN SAID CLOSURE RELATION OF THE PARTS, SAID DISTANCE BEING GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE REED BASE AND THE CHAMBER TOP SURFACE IN SAID CLOSURE RELATION OF THE PARTS AROUND THE REED, THE REED VAMP ENGAGING MEANS BEING CLOSER TO THE OTHER END OF THE TOP PART THAN TO THE THE END THEREOF FOR ENGAGING THE VAMP OF THE REED FOR PREVENTING THE FEATHER EDGE THEREOF FROM ENGAGING THE ONE END OF THE CHAMBER WHEN THE CONTAINER PARTS ARE DISPOSED IN CLOSURE RELATION AROUND THE REED. 